Hide file names problem?

[nicholas hall]

I know that if a folder is for pictures and videos and the files are viewed
as icon then windows will by default hide the file names. No problem there
as I can change what the folder type is. The problem is when I go to control
panels and it is showing the contents as tiles. When I change the view to
icons all the "file names" disappear. As there is no way to change the
"folder" type what could I do so that when I change the view to icons I
still can see the file names.

If I could turn off this feature I would as I do not find it any use what so
ever.

NIK

P.S It would be nice if vista remembered what I set the contents of folders
as I set the folders to "all items", but a lot of files change to "pictures
and video"?

 

[nicholas hall]

P.S meant to say "folders" instead of "files"

NIK

 

[dean-dean]

Well, actually, there's no need to change a folder that uses the Pictures
and Videos folder type template to see file names; just right-click an empty
spot in the folder and un-check View > "Hide File Names".

But you seem to have bigger problems. If Vista is not remembering your
settings, your Control Panel seems to be wanting to be a Pictures and Videos
folder, and a lot of folders change to the Pictures and Videos template,
then deleting two keys in the registry will give you a clean slate, and all
remembered folder settings in Windows Explorer for view state, window
position, sort order, column information, folder type, toolbar toggles, and
search result views will be lost, and reset to the defaults, just so you
know what to expect; but any corruption, which indeed does happen, will also
be deleted. The keys in Vista are:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU

(right-click on BagMRU and choose delete)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local
Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags

(right-click on Bags and choose delete)

Log off and log back on to Windows to re-create the keys (done
automatically), and start anew. Vista should now remember any chosen View,
etc., hereafter, and correct your Control Panel "no file names" problem.

 

[Steve Thackery]

Great answer - thanks, dean-dean.

Steve

 

[Neil Harley]

I know that if a folder is for pictures and videos and the files are
viewed as icon then windows will by default hide the file names. No
problem there as I can change what the folder type is. The problem is
when I go to control panels and it is showing the contents as tiles.
When I change the view to icons all the "file names" disappear. As
there is no way to change the "folder" type what could I do so that
when I change the view to icons I still can see the file names.

If I could turn off this feature I would as I do not find it any use
what so ever.

NIK

P.S It would be nice if vista remembered what I set the contents of
folders as I set the folders to "all items", but a lot of files
change to "pictures and video"?

I had this problem after manually setting about 100 photo directories to
hide filenames. For some reason random directories across all drives started
hiding filenames including 'Computer' in Windows Explorer and as I've got
the same icon for different drives it made knowing which drive to open
harder to remember. I had to go into a directory which showed filenames and
do an 'Apply to all folders' in the Folder Options, but now all my photo
directories are back to showing filenames -- as they should do, but I'm not
changing them all back manually to be back in the same position again. Ugh!
You sometimes can't win for trying :-(

 

[nicholas hall]

dean-dean

That did the trick. Thanks a lot for your help.

NIK

 

[Ed]

I have 10 gigs of disk space in a Recovery Disk (D and would like to
expand it. When I go to disk management and right click, the "expand"
choice is grayed out. I was able to shrink the C: drive and thought that
would allow additional space to be added to the D:\ drive, but not so.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Ed

That 10GB partition on the drive was placed there by the manufacturer of the
system to recover in case of an unrecoverable system corruption scenario. It
may be the only recovery option that you have in case of a disaster. It was
not meant to be used as extra storage space. It contains all of the Vista
installation files plus drivers for all of the installed hardware on that
machine. You may also void the warranty on the system if you do anything to
change that partition.

If you need extra storage space, just buy another internal or external hard
drive.